Obviously, the biggest change in the College Football Playoff this season is the expansion from four to 12 teams. No other change is nearly as significant. We now have first-round games and four quarterfinals before the semifinals. More games, more showdowns, more data points, more teams, more conferences. It all comes back to 12 teams. If we did have to identify the next biggest change in the playoff format after the main one — expansion — what would it be?
When you look at the schedule, as laid out by Patrick Conn over at Longhorns Wire, one detail jumps out: The College Football Playoff semifinals are no longer on the same day. Every playoff from 2014 through 2023 had the semifinals back to back. Now we have one semifinal on a Thursday in January, the other on a Friday the next day. Will this matter? Probably not. The championship game is a week and a half after the semifinals, so both teams will have adequate turnaround time. However, one never knows if a modest injury might require 24 more hours for ideal recuperation. If one team is on the right or wrong side of that 24-hour gap between semifinals, it might become a talking point.
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